


Void of Echoes

by x_Silent_x_Limbo_x



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Asexual Character, Depression, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mental Health Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2018-11-19 14:45:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11315592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/x_Silent_x_Limbo_x/pseuds/x_Silent_x_Limbo_x
Summary: Echo was not built for politics. In fact he really hated that garbage. So how did he end up the Mage Ambassador between the mages and monsters? You would have to ask his cousin. The politics were already a problem enough without whoever the heck this ghost creature was. He just wanted to keep everyone from killing each other and pretend to be normal, was that really too much to ask?





	1. The Call to Action

**Author's Note:**

> Just goofin' around I guess. The pairing with Echo is uncertain tbh, I'm just mostly foolin' around. Also, Echo is asexual so don't expect porn up in this bizz.

Echo was not a person, not really. If there was anything that could properly describe what Echo was it would be ‘mirror’ or ‘reflection’. He had not been born after all, he had been created. From the blood and bone of someone he had never even known Echo had been created to take their place. Even at that he had failed however and ended up becoming something else entirely. Even now the witch that made him could not bear to even look at him, not with the face he bore and the mistakes he represented to her. Even still...he could not help but love his _mother_. He knew she hated him and that he was only a pale replacement for the child she had lost but...he loved her so much, she was everything to him.

 

Because he loved his mother so much he had taken care of her. For all these years he had been the one to wipe her tears away failure after failure, day after day, even when her sanity began to degrade to nothing and she became violent and confused, he loved her and did his best to ease her pain. Things had been fine...they had not been perfect but they had been well enough that the two lived in some sort of harmony together. At least until the monsters had surfaced.

 

Once the monsters had surfaced and given the world conclusive proof that souls existed within humans and monsters alike something in Mother had broken. It was as though she had realized something that she had been missing...and the realization was not a good one. She became so despondent and unresponsive that even Echo could not reach her any longer. Not even when he used his ‘talent’ to try and pull her out. Though the odd sickly red string that only Echo could see was still connecting them Mother did not seem to respond to it any longer. Not even when Echo tried to use it to sooth her as he had always done since he was small and her violence left him broken.

 

Then one day it just...ended. Just like that and Echo was left alone with no one to love and no one to pretend to love him in return. Echo was sure that if he was real that he would have known what to do, that he would have been able to save her from herself. But Mother left him behind and Echo no longer served a purpose. He was only a reflection, an after-image of someone he had never even met or seen and with Mother only ashes in a jar he had no idea what to do with himself.

 

With Mother gone his uncertainties only grew, he was not a person, not really. If he died too...would he be able to see her again? Mother had a soul...like her child had a soul...like monsters and humans had souls...but Echo...Did Echo have a soul at all? Would he stop existing all together if he died? Would he really never see Mother again? Echo could not bear to look at the walls of the home that Mother had left behind for him, not any more for that day.

 

Echo had only left his home a few times before, once to see the funeral director that handled his mother’s cremation for him and again to see the lawyer that would ensure that Mother’s will was adhered to and he received her wealth and worldly goods, a gift of guilt more than love. Mother had been a complicated woman, often giving him gifts as though she were apologizing to him for something. Echo forgave her for everything, he would have forgiven her if she had explained what she felt guilty for.

 

Echo left Mother and his home behind to wander through the city that Mother had never let him go into before her death. She was no longer there to stop him after all, there was no one to be upset with him if he went there. It hurt more that Mother would not hit him again for leaving their home in the forest that bordered the city. He was so consumed by his thoughts that he did not notice the sky darken and grow heavy with the threat of rain, not until the first drops fell onto his face and began to soak his clothes.

 

Echo blinked and paused to look up at the sky, the rain poured harshly and Echo sighed. He would need to take shelter, reflection or not he could still get sick if left in the rain too long. He always got sick far too easily, he looked around quickly for a building he could duck into and saw a luminous sign reading ‘Grillby’s 2’ and shrugged before rushing to go inside.

 

At first Echo did not notice anything around him simply walking up to the bar and sitting down in his soaking clothes. He sighed softly with relief at the warmth and leaned forward a little leaning on the bar. A warm light stopped in front of him and he looked up to see a man made of warm fire wearing glasses, this was the first monster that Echo had ever seen in person. Though that was not saying much as he had never met anyone apart from his mother, the funeral service workers, and her lawyer anyway. At least not in person anyway, he had met some of Mother’s Coven mates online before but that was hardly the same thing. Echo offered a small rueful smile and leaned away so that he would not accidentally hurt them, if they could even be harmed by water.

 

“Sorry...I wasn’t expecting it to rain. Ah...I can help clean it?” Echo offered glancing behind him to check if he had left a trail of water. Luckily he had not left much, though there were others staring at him rather strangely. They were all different shapes, sizes, and colors, none of them very human looking. He supposed they were all monsters and turned back to the bartender.

 

“ _No, it’s fine. Would you like anything to drink or eat?_ ” The fire monster asked, his voice was soft and crackled warmly as he offered him a laminated menu, it was only one page.

 

“Oh um...I guess...” Echo said accepting the menu and taking a look. He was surprised to see that there were only two food items but a slew of alcoholic drinks. He had never had alcohol before but his very favorite food was on this menu and he could not help but perk up a little. “May I have a cheeseburger please?”

 

The fire monster, Grillby he imagined, nodded and turned away to go through a door labeled ‘Fire Exit’. Echo thought that was rather clever and smiled a little, for the first time since Mother had left him all alone. He sighed a little and glanced around the bar, the monsters all seemed to have lost interest in him and gone back to doing as they had been. Echo’s eyes scanned all of them, they all seemed to be connected. He wondered if that was normal for monsters, of the humans he had met each had, had their own plethora of threads but he doubted they were connected to everyone. The strings were all in varying shades of red, black, gray, and pink. He had never seen quite so many colors before and grew a little curious, he had only read about the varying colors from books Mother had stolen and there was only so much information in those.

 

The bar was an entire tangle of strings and Echo had the time to trace all of them with his eyes. He noted that not all of the monsters were actually connected, but the threads that connected everyone inside were light and playful. Though it seemed after some time of tracing he noticed that almost everyone in the bar shared one common source, they all had a connection to a small skeleton monster that was sitting in the middle of the bar and drinking...ketchup?

 

Echo had been so surprised to see that the skeleton was chugging ketchup that he did not notice Grillby’s return until he set a plate down in front of Echo and snapped his attention back up. Echo flinched at the clack and sudden presence before turning back to look at them. He smiled at Grillby gratefully and reached into his pocket for his wallet, Grillby shook his head and gestured to the meal silently and Echo paused. Oh...he was supposed to eat first and then pay...right...

 

“Thank you.” Echo said politely before digging into the meal. Honestly it was the best cheeseburger that he had ever had and Echo half fell in love with Grillby at that moment, if his eyes could change to hearts they would have. Echo looked at Grillby wide-eyed. “Are you a god?”

 

“!!!” Grillby seemed at a loss for words and the skeleton a few seats away from Echo laughed loudly. Apparently that had been tremendously funny to him. Echo’s cheeks warmed a little and he stuck to eating his burger timidly, clearly he had embarrassed himself and the poor fire monster.

 

“S-sorry...” Echo muttered timidly, Grillby shook his head and Echo was surprised to see a yellow sliver grow into a smile on the monster’s face.

 

“Not to sound _cheesy_ but that was just _heavenly_.” The skeleton said with a little chuckle. Echo tilted his head slightly and realized rather quickly that the monster a few seats away had made a pun, he smiled and muffled a little laugh with his lightly scarred left hand.

 

“I guess I’m in a _pickle_ now.” Echo returned a little shyly with an uncertain smile, the skeleton chuckled again despite how flat the pun felt to Echo. Grillby shook his head though he seemed amused, the string that Echo could see connecting Grillby and the skeleton seemed warmer somehow, like they had actually grown closer before his very eyes.

 

“I’m sure if you _angel_ it right you’ll be just fine.” The skeleton replied with a soft laugh.

 

Echo smiled at him and laughed a little but got distracted by something he had never seen before. After looking at the skeleton for so long he noticed a type of string he had never seen before. It flickered in and out of sight, curling around the skeleton and sucking in all the light around it, as though pulling the light into an empty void. Echo tried to seem like he was not staring but it was difficult as the string fluttered and seemed as though it were...glitching? As though it could not decide if it existed or not.

 

“You okay kid? You look like you saw a _ghost_.” The skeleton joked again and Echo smiled reassuringly at him, he did not want the skeleton to feel uneasy after all. It was not like he would be able to see what Echo saw anyway.

 

“You have a stray thread...on your shoulder, would you mind if I…?” Echo found the question slipping out before he could really think it through.

 

Echo really wanted to touch it, the thread that connected to nowhere. Something was very wrong about it and Echo wanted to make sure it was not going to hurt this stranger, the skeleton had been kind to him after all. The skeleton seemed uneasy for a moment despite his smile, but he shrugged and Echo reached forward careful to seem like he was picking a thread and drop it to the side. However the moment he touched the thread his natural Talent made it curl around his hand and latch on so that he would not lose it no matter the distance. He felt compelled to investigate this anomaly but smiled for the skeleton’s benefit.

 

“All taken care of. Thank you, it would have bothered me otherwise.” Echo told him at least mostly honestly. The skeleton seemed to be judging him for a moment, one eye closed while the other weighed something inside him. The skeleton’s smile widened after a moment and his shoulders seemed to relax.

 

“No skin of my bones.” The skeleton replied, Echo muffled another laugh behind his scarred hand and the monster tilted his head slightly, as though curious why he would hide his own laughter. “My name’s Sans, Sans the Skeleton. You got a name kid?”

 

“Oh...My name is Echo Reed. It’s nice to meet you.” Echo introduced himself politely, his Mother had taught him manners after all.

 

“Not a lot of humans come in here.” Sans seemed to be digging for something but Echo was not sure what so he turned to his meal and began to finish it, no sense letting it go to waste after all.

 

“They’re honestly missing out then. This food is amazing.” Echo commented sincerely after taking another bite, Sans nodded clearly in agreement.

 

“Grillbz is the best.” Sans agreed with a small nod to the flame monster that was tending to other patrons, so his name really was Grillby then.

 

“I wonder if this is love...” Echo sighed happily as he bit into his cheeseburger again, Sans looked surprised for a moment before laughing.


	2. Echo in the Void

There was nothing in Mother’s books about the string that Echo was holding in his hand. It was wrapped tightly in his hand, as though threatening to slice through it. But it was weak...Echo was sure that if he had the intent and just twisted his hand he could snap it and whatever was on the other side would be gone forever. This caused him to frown and he wondered if he could maybe heal the connection instead, but then he wondered if it was a good connection. It was black which usually indicated an enemy relationship, a relationship of mutual hatred, but Echo felt as though the thread was the wrong color. As though the thread had been corrupted by an outside source rather than the relationship itself.

 

Sans had been kind to him and he did not want to strengthen a Tie that Sans did not want to have in the first place. But if the thread had been corrupted and was the wrong color due to a curse of some sort perhaps it would be a good thing to heal it. Echo spent so much time staring at the thread uncertainly that it seemed like hours passed. He wanted to ask Sans about the connection but there was no way that he could ask, Sans would not be able to See or understand what Echo Saw. Sans may even be offended that Echo was interfering at all, perhaps even angry about what he would perceive as magic. Monsters did not like mages did they? Mother had mentioned something to that effect...though he was not actually a mage...

 

After some time of examining the thread Echo wondered if perhaps he could connect the thread to himself instead and strengthen the new connection. Carefully Echo pinched the thread between his fingers and attempted to split the thread rather than sever it all together. The split happened far more easily than he thought it would, separating the split further he severed the part of one new thread that connected to Sans and began to split it down the line until the black thread was separated into two threads, one remaining connected to Sans and a new thread connecting only to Echo.

 

Echo sighed with exhaustion, his entire body ached from the use of his Talent. Drained of all energy Echo decided to quit for the night and stumbled to his feet to go to his room. He would need to sleep, restore some of this energy that he had lost attempting something so new and strange. His room had never felt so far before and he just barely made it to his bed before he fell into a deep sleep.

 

“ _Who are you? What did you do?” There was a voice, warped by static and echoing so strangely._

 

_He could not understand what they were trying to say. He could not see, could not respond. Something was wrong, so very wrong. Something was sad, so very sad. Something was angry, so very **angry**. Who was talking to him? After a moment a pale white face appeared from the darkness...they had no eyes...why was their face cracked? It looked almost purposeful with how they seemed to fit the face so well. The face was angry, he could tell._

 

“ _Who are you? How did you steal Sans connection? How did you connect yourself to the void like this?” The face frowned at him, two white hands came from the darkness and seemed to try to form words as the face spoke. He did not understand the hands either, it seemed like the being was not able to communicate at all with him._

 

“ _Sorry...I don’t understand...” The words came from him despite him not being able to feel his body at all. The face seemed frustrated with him as they tried again their hands moving rapidly, as though if they put more emphasis in their movements they could **make** him understand._

 

“ _How have you entered this void? How are you here and unharmed?” The face was so busy trying to talk to him, but he could only focus on the black string that was connecting them. It was the string that he had been working on before, it was connection to a spot between the hands and face, coming from the being itself it seemed._

 

“ _Oh...it’s you...that’s where it went...” He mumbled, he was unable to stop himself the words tumbling out as his thoughts. The being before him paused and he felt himself reach out for the thread. The being backed away as though afraid he was trying to touch them. “...fix it up...”_

 

_Without really thinking about it or considering the consequences he poured some of his energy into healing the thread, it was frayed and damaged so strangely that even as an enemy bond it was unhealthy. The connection was sick and broken, as though something terrible had happened to it and it was only barely remaining strong. But slowly...as he poured his energy into it the thread became stronger, thicker. Gradually the string became sturdy, though it still flickered and vanished from his hands at times, still uncertain if it should exist or not._

 

_The being before him seemed to almost feel what he was doing, watching him with a wide open eye socket and one crescent shaped one. The being had stopped trying to communicate with him and was instead watching him intently as he carefully moved his hands, as though using his energy to weave the thread stronger. After a while he grew tired again, he sighed and felt as though he was drifting away._

 

“ _Sorry...I’ll try again later...” The darkness closed in again…_

 

When Echo woke again he was still so _tired_ , as though he had not slept at all. He yawned and got out of bed anyway though, the sun was trying to seep through the gaps in his curtains and he thought he might as well go eat. Mother had not liked it when he slept for too long...but...he guessed that did not matter anymore. He snatched up his glasses from his bedside table and left his room to go make himself some food. Turning the corner he saw something that made him squeak and jump. There was someone in his hallway!

 

There was a very tall being looking down at him with a pale white face, there were two cracks spreading from empty eye sockets in opposite directions. One eye socket looked a little like a drooping eye and the other was wide open. Their body was solid black, the light almost seemed absorbed by it, their form seemed as though it were not entirely there. They were transparent, a ghost imitating a living being. They raised pale white hands, their hands had perfectly circular holes in the middle, and began to sign to him. Echo felt a flash of familiarity and was given pause.

 

“…I don’t...I don’t understand...” Echo told them faintly, they seemed frustrated.

 

Echo looked at their chest area, a reflex by now, he saw that there were many threads that were severed. The threads just hanging there and flickering in and out of existence. But there were two threads that were still connected to them. One led out the door and into the distance, surely connected to Sans now that he thought about it, and the other...the other was connected to him, it was thicker and more sturdy than he remembered…

 

A faint memory prodded at the back of his mind until he began to remember bits and pieces of a dream. Surely the dream had not been real? Echo looked at the being with wide eyes, nothing like this had ever happened before. Echo was unsure how to proceed from here and stood at a loss before the ghostly being standing before him.

 

“...I...I need food...s-sorry...” Echo apologized and quickly dodged passed the being staring him down.

 

Echo was trying not to panic, he began to wonder if this was perhaps the reason Mother had never allowed him to venture passed their property. This was not normal in any way shape or form, yet he had no one to consult about it. With Mother gone so was his more in depth knowledge of magic and the nature of it, Mother had been the witch not him. He had no magic, there was nothing useful about him apart from his Talent. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he felt the stranger only a few feet away staring at him.

 

Echo shakily tried to make himself a bowl of cereal as he thought. He needed a way to communicate with this being, clearly they had questions for him and the last thing he wanted was hostility in the face of his ignorance. Mother had books, so many books...perhaps there was one that could help him. He turned with his bowl and looked at the very tall and intimidating looking stranger in his kitchen.

 

“I...I’m going to try and find something to help me understand you. Maybe we can figure out what is going on together because I am so confused right now.” Echo laughed shakily and walked over to the table to sit down. He hesitated a moment before pushing the chair opposite of him out with his foot.

 

“Um...t-take a seat...rest a bit...” Echo offered with a trembling and timid smile.

 

The being seemed to consider him for a moment before nodding and sitting down before him. Echo began to eat and had to force himself to ignore the way that the being was observing him. He felt like a bug pressed beneath some glass, a specimen for observation. It made him tremendously uncomfortable but then he had not really offered the being any form of entertainment either. Echo wondered briefly if the strange monster could eat, or if they were perhaps some form of dream eater. He had met them in a dream after all. Echo tried to finish quickly and put his bowl and spoon in the sink rather than wash it right away. He had a guest after all.

 

“Right...Mother should have a book with something about this.” Echo could only hope that Mother had something useful, Mother had been brilliant in her prime, she had created him after all.

 

The being seemed to try to speak again their hands signing something that Echo again could not understand. He had a feeling that was not ASL, or perhaps he was just ignorant enough to not recognize it? Echo was unsure and only shrugged before going to Mother’s study. She had so many books inside it was rather daunting, but he had no time to be intimidated, not with the situation being as strange as it was. The being followed after him and Echo wondered if maybe they could help him search.

 

“Would you like to help me search Mother’s books?” Echo offered pointing to one of the many book shelves.

 

The being paused in consideration and almost seemed to glide over to the shelf. They attempted to touch one of the many books only for their hand to phase through as though he never existed. Echo felt immediately guilty at the way their shoulders drooped. His own body seemed to sag with sorrow before he perked up again.

 

“Ah, wait. I could set the book out for you and when you’re done reading a page you could give me a little wave and I’ll turn the page for you.” Echo offered hopefully, the being paused and turned to look at him as though considering him for a moment before nodding and smiling for the first time since Echo had met him. Echo smiled back and wandered over to a shelf to pull down a book about dreams he thought might be useful for their situation.

 

“Let’s start here...I’ll try to find something about bonds again...” Echo set down the book and opened it to the beginning for the being. They seemed rather happy to be reading, Echo wondered if they had not gotten to in a while.


	3. Troubling Webs are Woven

Echo was growing rather frustrated, Mother’s books were not supplying him any information about anything that had transpired. The most useful thing he had found was a recipe for a stress relieving potion that he could not even make. There was nothing and despite the translucent being attempting to ‘help’ him he was making no progress at all. If he were a mage then surely he would have had the solution to the problem himself. Unfortunately he could only thread his fingers through his messy tangle of hair and slump over his desk despondently.

 

“Maybe I’m looking in the wrong place...” Echo sighed pressing his forehead into the desk. Mother was a Dollmaker, this being was not a doll but an actual person. Someone with a soul most likely given how sentient they seemed to be.

 

Echo looked up to see that the being was still riveted by whatever they were reading, not having noticed him at all. He sighed and leaned on one hand taking in the details of them. He had never seen anyone quite like them before. Staring at them for so long however he noticed something he had not noticed before, there were more threads connecting to his chest than the first two he had initially thought. They seemed to have been severed by death, but they were reaching out and attempting to connect to something, or perhaps someone. Echo had never even heard of anything like that before, he glanced down at his own chest and frowned. The thread that had once been connected to Mother hung limp, her death having snapped the connection between them.

 

Pursing his lips Echo decided that he needed some help, whether he liked it or not. With a heavy sigh he leaned back and opened the drawer in the middle of the desk he was seated at. Inside was his mother’s laptop and the device she always used to communicate with her estranged Coven. Echo was never really allowed to use it unless in the case of an emergency before, not that he had always obeyed that ridiculous rule.

 

Echo pulled out the gray device and opened it up, it had been a long time since he had used it and the sound of it whirring to life seemed so loud in the quiet room. The strange being seemed to of finished whatever they were reading their attention drawn to the laptop as it hummed. The start up took longer than Echo would have liked but he preferred staring at the screen over the being practically leaning over him to watch what it was he was doing. He logged into the chat app quickly and posted to the group chat.

 

_**Weaver:** Excuse me, I have a couple questions about something I’m having a great deal of trouble with. Could anyone help me?_

 

Echo waited for someone to respond, preferably an Empath, he thought he would be stuck waiting for a long time but only moments later someone was typing.

 

_**Radiance:** Oh Echo! Sweetie, how lovely to see you online again. How have you been holding up? Did Mr. Sanchez take care of you well enough? Just let me know any questions you have and I’ll try to help you. If you’d like to pm then that would be fine._

 

_**Weaver:** Thank you Priestess, Mr. Sanchez was very kind to me and made sure I had everything I needed to keep the house. Thank you for recommending him to me. But this is about something else, I need some help with my...condition. Something happened and I’m not sure what to do about it._

 

_**Radiance:** Oh dear this sounds serious. Hang on a moment we should switch to video chat._

 

Echo was a little surprised by that and blinked a few times at the screen, suddenly the screen lit up with Radiance’s icon and a cheerful little tune came from the built in speakers. Echo answered immediately the window changing to an elderly woman’s gentle and very concerned face. She did not seem to notice the being looming behind him.

 

“What’s going on Sweetie?” The woman asked right away frowning with concern.

 

“...It’s the threads. I found a thread that was... _wrong_. It was flickering in and out, like it might not be real. I...I brought it home with me.” Echo admitted a bit sheepishly, the woman sighed disappointed.

 

“Echo you know better than to allow strange things to latch onto you. That’s _dangerous_ , especially since you are the _only_ one with this ability. Without your mother here we no longer have any way to monitor your Talent, the best we have is Maggie and she can only sense the emotions around a person. Her magic isn’t as strong as your Talent is. You could have tethered a demon to yourself.” The woman scolded seriously, Echo’s shoulders slumped as uneasiness filled him. Was this being a demon? He had not thought they were…

 

“I’m sorry Priestess Liora...I just...I was curious. I’ve never seen anything like it and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to hurt the person it was attached to...they were so nice to me...” Echo explained somberly, he did not want to admit that he had mostly collected the thread as a distraction from Mother.

 

“I know you want to help Echo, but sometimes you have to help yourself too. We don’t have a way to help you should something go wrong with your Talent, you’re not a mage or even human for that matter...there’s no telling what would happen if you start Threading yourself to others.” Liora spoke softly, her tone grandmotherly. “Tell me everything that happened. Maybe we can figure out what is going on together.”

 

“I went to town to get away for a little while. I stepped into a bar and met a couple really nice people, one of them had the weird Thread I told you about though.” Echo began, Liora hummed and interrupted with a brief gesture.

 

“What kind of relationship was it? A positive or negative?” Liora asked for clarification.

 

“That’s the thing I couldn’t tell. It’s black but...more like it’s black because it’s sucking in everything around it not because it’s the actual color itself or because it really is negative. I split the thread so that the connection was still there but I connected a piece of it to myself so I could try and find the source,” Echo explained, Liora seemed disturbed by the information but allowed him to continue uninterrupted. “I couldn’t finish before I ran out of energy and fell asleep. I...”

 

“What’s wrong dear?” Liora inquired worriedly as Echo paused to glace up at the being that was still watching the exchange. The being only frowned at him before shrugging, as though telling him that it was up to him what to say.

 

“I had a dream that I was in complete emptiness. In the dream I met this strange being with a white face that had cracks through it and white hands with holes in them. The threads were coming from them and they tried to speak to me but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. They tried sign language but I don’t know that...When I woke up...Priestess when I woke up they were _in my house_. I still don’t understand them but they’re standing right behind me and I’m not sure what to do now.” Echo explained a little panicky as the words seemed to spill in a flood of stress.

 

“They haven’t tried to harm you have they?” Liora asked looking distinctly alarmed as she jolted from her seat and leaned closer to her screen.

 

“No, no...in fact...they actually tried to help me when I was panicking and looking for answers in Mother’s books. They can’t seem to interact with anything physically but they’ve been trying and haven’t seemed hostile...” Echo explained his face becoming a bit thoughtful as he glanced up at the being again. The being glanced away their form shrinking a little as Echo looked at them thoughtfully.

 

“Be careful Echo, this could be a demon trying to lull you into a false sense of security. You know that demons can be tricky.” Liora sighed sitting down and glancing off to the side as she considered the options. “Echo, who exactly did you pick this being up from?”

 

“Oh...it was a monster named Sans.” Echo told her, Liora looked alarmed again before biting her lip and thinking again.

 

“I hate to say this but,” Liora sighed in resignation. “It may be best to go to the source. If this monster was where the thread was originally attached to then they must know who this being is and whether or not you are in any sort of danger.”

 

“But...I thought I wasn’t supposed to talk to the monsters.” Echo sputtered in disbelief, Liora shook her head.

 

“While that is true for the mages you are not technically a mage despite your unique ability. I think that so long as you do not admit an attachment to a particular coven or any connection to mages then you should be safe. If however they do try to harm you for your Talent then contact me immediately and I shall have someone pull you from the city and to the Capitol,” Liora instructed patiently, she smiled teasingly as she continued. “Though you could always move to the Capitol anyway. An ability as remarkable as yours would gain you quite the notoriety amongst the mages.”

 

“No thank you Priestess.” Echo rejected rolling his eyes, she always tried to coax him into leaving his home at least once a call since Mother left. “Thank you for your help Priestess, I’ll think about what you said.”

 

“Alright dear. Remember I’m only a call away. Remember to beware confrontation with them!” Liora told him, he nodded and she ended the call. He did not even want to think about what would happen if a monster tried to pull out his ‘soul’, if he even had one.

 

Echo closed his mother’s laptop and leaned his elbows on the desk thoughtfully, folding his fingers together beneath his chin. Honestly Liora had given him nothing useful, not anything he had not already thought of himself. Even if he did go and ask Sans, there was no telling how he would react. He could interpret Echo’s trespass as an attack and lash out at him. The being could actually be a demon biding time and trying to ease him into doing something for them.

 

It always felt like nobody ever knew how to help Echo. Even Mother only got the information she had about the Bonds through ancient texts that she had to steal from the Capitol. Everything he had gotten a hold of taught him only what they meant and either how to heal or break them. There was nothing in them about Threads that consumed light like a void or glitched in and out of existence.There was nothing about Threads being severed by anything but death, a curse, or someone disassosiating. Nor strange beings that could be pulled through dreams and into reality by them.

 

“I...don’t know what to do.” Echo confessed to the being, they looked at him blankly. “Sans may kill me for casting what he would probably consider magic on him without his knowledge. But I have nothing that even remotely covers anything like this. I don’t think even Mother would know what to do at this point and I’m at a loss.”

 

The being frowned at him, as though he had said something wrong and they wanted to correct him. Unfortunately there was nothing they could do to make Echo understand them so they could not specify what Echo had gotten wrong and Echo was left to sigh and hesitate on his choices. He could choose to do nothing and ignore the being and the entire situation. But somehow that felt wrong to him, he started something and he should likely at least try to finish it, if only to get the being to stop hovering as they did.

 

“There’s really no choice is there? We’re going to have to see Sans...Unfortunately, I have no way to contact him without it being creepy.” Echo sighed his eyes shifting to glace at the thread that connected the being to Sans. He could follow that thread and find Sans no matter where he was, but that was creepy as heck, even someone as socially stunted as he was knew that.

 

“I guess we could go to that bar again and hope that he’s there.” Echo muttered a little despondently, that sounded like a shot in the dark to him but the being nodded at him rather confidently. Echo raised an eyebrow at him but smiled anyway shaking his head. “Alright, Grillby’s two it is. Let’s just hope that Sans shows up there again and is willing to talk with me privately. Gosh I’m gonna sound like such a damn creep...every book ever is telling me not to be like this...”

 

It was too late to not be creepy wasn’t it…


	4. Threading Connections

The strange melty skeleton was watching him again, it made Echo uneasy and also annoyed him a little. He had never been fond of hovering, Mother used to do it all the time and it always made him uneasy and irritable. He took a deep breath and sucked it up however, he was sure they were only curious about him. Echo was curious himself after all.

“Alright, let’s go then...here’s hoping Sans will show up again so I don’t have to do something creepy to find him.” Echo sighed pulling on his favorite black hoodie.

When Echo looked back at the being he noticed that the stranger seemed distressed by something. He tilted his head with confusion and tried to make out the odd gestures and was only able to decipher that it was something about the hoodie that distressed him. Though Echo could not really say why, it was an ordinary hoodie despite being a product of Welcome to Nightvale. He loved his space void hoodie, but the stranger seemed distressed by it.

“...Do you not like space?” Echo asked uncertainly, the being shook their head and Echo was able to work out that the problem did not seem to be space. Sighing Echo slumped his shoulders. “Look, I don’t think we have the time or the capacity to discuss your existential crisis about our meaningless existence in the grand scheme of the vast void of space so can we just go find Sans?”

The being slumped but nodded and Echo left the house allowing enough time for the other to follow before he locked the door. The two of them walked in silence until the reached the main streets of the city and soon enough Grillby’s. Echo looked around for a moment before walking to the bar and sitting down in the same seat he had before. Hopefully he would not need to wait long to talk to Sans, if he even showed up at all. He did not like the gamble but preferred it over using his Talent to track Sans down, it felt invasive to do so. Though technically snooping around in Sans’ bonds was already tremendously invasive.

 

Echo was beginning to feel guilty about the entire situation, he really should have kept his nose out of it. The being sat down beside him at the bar and Echo wondered how they were able to sit if they could not seem to touch anything else. He decided to ignore it and just hope the world made sense again after talking with Sans about this.

“May I have a cheeseburger again please?” Echo requested as Grillby approached him for his order, Grillby nodded and wandered away again to fill the order.

Surprisingly enough Echo did not actually have to wait long at all for Sans to show up, apparently he showed up for lunch every day if the enthused greetings of the other monsters was any indication. Sans wandered up to the bar and sat down in the same seat he had the last time Echo had seen him and Echo suddenly felt ice drop into his stomach. He had not thought at all about what he would say or how he was going to get Sans to talk with him. The half melted being next to him glanced at him and then Sans as though they desperately wanted to talk to Sans. It seemed as though they believed Echo could make it happen from the way they were looking at him.

“Hey, back again so soon?” Sans said so suddenly Echo squeaked and jumped in the seat. Echo was not even sure how he did it but Sans raised an amused brow bone at him.

“Ah, yes! Well, the food here is so good...” Echo decided to be at least a little sincere, the food was amazing but...not the real reason he had returned so soon.

The strange being slumped and made some more hand gestures at him for a moment. Echo bit his lip and tried to not make it obvious he was looking at something no one else seemed to be seeing. The being decided that a game of charades was in order and pointed at Sans then made a few signs then pointed at Echo and made the same signs again. They did it three times before Echo finally lifted his hands to copy the movements. The being looked delighted, but when Echo turned to look at Sans he was grinning stiffly at him with blank, empty eye sockets.

 

“Um...a-are you okay?” Echo asked faintly stuffing his hands into his sleeves.

 

“How do you know Gaster?” Sans’ voice was flat and he was looking rather intimidating despite how much smaller he was compared to Echo. Echo bit his lip again and glanced over at the being, they pointed at themselves and nodded.

 

“Um...they...I’m having a bit of an issue...I thought...I thought maybe you could help me with...Gaster?” Echo’s gaze flickered back and forth between Sans and the strange being who nodded eagerly at being called Gaster. At least he knew their name, but he had the feeling that things were not likely to get better from there.

 

“I’m not helping you until you tell me how you know him.” Sans told him firmly. Echo sighed slumping in his seat, he turned his head to look Sans in the eyes, well, eye sockets.

 

“I’ll tell you...but not here.” Echo said glancing at their surroundings hoping that it was clear enough that he did not trust the open space. Sans sighed but kept looking at him for a few moments, he nodded clearly coming to a decision.

 

“Fine. We’ll go to my place.” Sans told him firmly. Echo frowned nervously twisting his hands together in his sleaves.

 

“Can...can I eat first?” Echo requested faintly, his burger had been set in front of him and was growing cold. He just wanted to eat that first, it really would not take him all that long.

 

“Fine Kid.” Sans conceded easily enough and Echo pouted a little.

 

“My name is Echo...I’m like thirty.” Echo was exaggerating, he was only twenty-five.

 

Echo was a bit uncomfortable while eating his cheeseburger since Sans was staring at him so hard while drinking ketchup. He understood that he might be suspicious but he did not think that it was worth staring quite so hard at him, Sans was not going to learn anything about him by staring so hard after all. Still, Echo was not about to say anything about it either. He finished as quickly as he could and payed for the burger before standing up.

 

“S-sorry, um...we...we should go.” Echo spoke a little shakily, he had no idea how this was going to go.

 

“Follow me, I know a short cut.” Sans said waving to Grillby in goodbye and leading Echo out the door.

 

Echo followed after Sans, Gaster following him, Echo flinched pretty badly when Sans grabbed his wrist suddenly the world sort of upended on him. He got dizzy and had to cover his mouth to keep his nausea from overwhelming him. Sans watched him unsympathetically and Gaster was missing. Glancing at their surroundings Echo was very sure Sans just teleported them somewhere, his apartment from what he remembered of the previous conversation.

 

“You gonna be okay?” Sans asked, he did sound a little concerned at least.

 

“I-I’ll be fine...just...did  _ _not__  expect that.” Echo muttered swallowing down his nausea, luckily nothing was actually coming up.

 

“Why don’t you have a seat Kid?” Sans phrased it like an offer but it sounded more like an order. Echo sighed and sat down on the plush but old looking couch.

 

“...I guess I should explain...um...I dunno where to start...” Echo admitted with a sigh as he put his elbows on his knees and leaned into his hands.

 

“The beginning is a great place.” Sans prompted, Echo shook his head.

 

“Too many points that  _ _are__  the beginning. I guess the first thing you should know is how...” Echo tried to think of how he was going to explain his ability and why he interfered.

 

“How you know him? That’s what I’ve been asking.” Sans replied flatly, Echo sighed.

 

“I meant how it’s possible. Since you didn’t see him I’m assuming no one has even been able to for however long. I dunno what’s going on with the whole invisibility thing but it’s really weird and unsettling to be the only one that sees him and I think it has something to do with my...my Talent.” Echo elaborated, or at least tried to.

 

“Your ‘talent’?” Sans clearly wanted some exposition, Echo sighed.

 

“Fuck it. Look, I have the ability to  _ _see__  the bonds that tie people to each other. I can see if you love someone, if they’re your friend, if you hate them, or even if they just persistently annoy you.” Echo began, Sans watched him blankly as he talked. “The thing is...I saw a  _ _weird__  bond that was tied to  _ _you__. It was...oddly colored and it was glitchy and went nowhere. I’ve never seen anything like it and I got worried...I mean what if it was a demon or something horrible? But then when I followed it and tried to figure out what it was connected to...I kinda just passed out? And then there was this weird melty guy with a cracked face and holes in his hands?”

 

“Woah, woah, slow down a sec and breathe. Let me just...” Sans sighed loudly as he tried to process Echo’s babbling as he pinched the bridge above his nasal passage. “So...you can see relationships...saw one you didn’t recognize and just decided to  _ _follow__  it?”

 

“Ugh, I know. It was stupid and invasive and I should have just minded my own business. But now he won’t go away and I have no idea what to do and I’m also kind of wondering why you can’t see him if he was connected to you in the first place.” Echo sounded confused and anxious as he elaborated further.

 

“Wait...so Gaster has been following you?” Sans asked suddenly his face grim despite the permanent smile on his face.

 

“Yeah, I mean...I think you lost him with the teleporting bit but he’s been with me since the weird dream. Is...is he dangerous? Should I be trying to get rid of him?” Echo was growing even more distressed clearly, Sans jolted and shook his head quickly.

 

“No! No, he’s not dangerous...I’ve been trying to get him back into this plane of existence for a long time, years really. Just...you managed to do it with a dream and that’s really throwing me off.” Sans admitted with a heavy sigh.

 

“Oh...if...if you want I can try and strengthen the bond you have with him? Repair the damage, maybe if I repair the damage you’ll be able to see him too.” Echo offered causing white lights to flicker in Sans’ skull for a moment.

 

“You...you can do that?” Sans asked faintly, as though he could not bring himself to really believe it.

 

“I mean, I can heal the bond but I don’t really know if that will actually help you see him. The bond let me see him so maybe...maybe it could work for you too?” Echo explained uncertainly, Sans sighed exhaustively and sat down beside Echo on the couch.

 

“At this point I’ll try  _ _anything__...Fine...But if you’re lying or if you do anything  _ _unfriendly__...we’re going to have  _ _words,__ ” Sans warned him one bright blue eyelight flashing in one of his empty eye sockets. Echo’s eyes widened and he nodded mutely. Sans sighed again and continued. “What do you need to get started then?”

“Oh, I don’t really need anything just...you sit there and relax and I’ll do the rest...this...may take a lot of energy out of us both though so...just be ready to be really tired.” Echo told him seriously, Sans actually laughed at that.

“Kid, I’m always tired. Just...do what you can.” Sans dismissed, Echo nodded though he frowned.

“Alright...Let’s start then...” Echo agreed as he focused in on the corrupted thread reaching into the distance from the center of Sans’ ribcage.


	5. Author's Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry.

Sorry everyone, I'm sure I've pissed you off with the whole ripping this down and then throwing it back up thing. I AM rewriting this story but I thought it was a bit unfair to just rip it down and put the rewrite here so I'm putting the rewrite in a new post. Sorry to bother you all!

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone would like to contact the author for anything or you would like more info about Echo and his oc friends/family I made a blog for Echo. I even hand-drew a picture of Echo myself.
> 
> https://xlimbosxechox.tumblr.com/


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